1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to quick release face masks for use with contact sports helmets, such as football helmets. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved quick release face mask for use with football helmets and the like wherein the face mask releases from the helmet not withstanding the direction of force applied to the helmet during contact.
2. General Background:
American football is one of the most popular of contact sports. Football players wear a commonly seen rounded helmet in addition to pads which protect the shoulders, hip, legs and torso areas. The helmet is typically a one-piece rounded hollow shell of plastic having a bottom opening which allows insertion of the player's head into the helmet interior. The helmet is usually held on the player's head by means of a chin strap which buckles at its ends to the temple areas of the helmet, corresponding to a position on the player's head adjacent the temple area or the rear jaw area. While the helmet provides protection for the sides, top and rear of the player's head, the helmet leaves an exposed forward area, namely, the player's face.
In the earliest history of football, players typically received injuries to the facial area, including broken noses, gouged eyes, shattered teeth, and the like because the facial area was largely unprotected. This practice of not protecting the facial area started when helmets were made of leather in the early 1900's, but continued even after plastic helmets became available. In the middle of the 20th century, players began to use a single bar across the front of the helmet extending away from the player's face and attaching to the temple portions of the helmet. The bar was generally U-shaped extending forward of the player's mouth area. In the 1950's a double bar face guard began to be used. Unfortunately, even the double bar did not fully protect the player's face area from being smashed by an opposer's fist in that the eyes and nose were fully exposed. In the 1960's and 70's, face masks became more sophisticated and involved a grid-like "cage" that completely covered the player's facial area offering protection to the eyes, nose, mouth, teeth and jaw. The "cage" typically extended from the forehead portion of the helmet downwardly and extended well below the player's chin until it virtually touched the chest area of the player. The "cage" also used a network of horizontal and vertical bars forming a grid to fully protect the player's face from damage while still affording sufficient visibility to the player. Unfortunately, the grid provided on the mask also provides an excellent surface that could be gripped by an opposing player, even if at times inadvertently. Thus, many players have been injured, and some very seriously, sometime resulting in death when the face mask is grabbed by an opposing player's hand and the head ripped violently and quickly in a direction different from the direction the player is running. Because the "cage" or face mask is rigidly attached to the helmet and because the helmet is rigidly affixed with a chin strap to the player's head, a great amount of force can be unfortunately transmitted to the player's neck and spine through the hand of an opposing player.
Various attempts have been made to solve the problem of serious injury and even death to football players by providing for a release of the face guard or face mask from the helmet when force is applied to the helmet during contact.
An early U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,624, entitled "Face Guard For Football Helmet," was issued to Delby Humphrey. The Humphrey patent describes the hazards of a face mask as forming a ready hand hold during contact by an opponent grasping the face mask and pulling on the face mask so that the helmet rotates about the chin strap. In the Humphrey patent, a releasable connection is provided at the temple areas of the helmet between the helmet and the face mask. A pivotal connection is formed between the face mask and the forehead area while clamps secure the helmet at the sides or temple areas. The Humphrey device is primarily directed to a releasing of the face guard from the football helmet when a forward pulling is applied to the face mask with respect to the wearer's head.
Another Humphrey patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,236, entitled "Mounting For Face Mask," uses four clamps, namely, a pair of clamps at the temple area and a pair of clamps in the forehead area for securing a face mask to the helmet. Upon the application of stress to the face guard beyond an allowable limit, the guard would snap free from the clamp holders, or break the clamp holders, thus to protect the helmet and the face guard as well as the individual wearing the helmet. The Humphrey '236 patent likewise is directed to a structure that would not readily release if pressure was applied from a sideways direction.
A single directional sliding, releasable connection between a face guard and a helmet is seen in the Bednarczuk, et al patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,152, entitled "Safety Football Helmet." A similar single directional releasing face mask is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,598, also naming Bednarczuk, et al as inventors.
The Humphrey U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,746, entitled "Arrangement For Connecting A Face Guard To A Helmet," discloses a connector arrangement for pivotally connecting a face guard to a helmet at the lower front edge of the helmet so that the face guard can swing in the fore and aft direction while strap elements are provided connecting the face guard to the helmet at the sides of the helmet, and normally preventing the aforementioned fore and aft movement. The side connector elements are somewhat resilient and can be cut with a knife to permit the face guard to be swung away from the player's face in case it is necessary to give the player emergency treatment.
A tear-away face mask subassembly is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,296. The Martin reference is similar to the Bednarczuk patents above-described in that force must be applied in a direction away from the player's face in order to pull the face mask release and thus it suffers from a failure to release quickly is force if applied from the side.
The Lancellotti U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,687, entitled "Sports Helmet With Face Mask," uses a plurality of face clamps to hold a face mask to a helmet. The mask shown is of grid like configuration having a peripheral base portion that is attached to the helmet. In one embodiment, the attachment includes a plurality of spaced blocks each including a forwardly directed undercut opening for receiving the base portion of the mask. In another embodiment, the attachment includes an element secured to the mask about the periphery of the frontal opening thereof such that the base portions of the mask may be disposed proximal thereto. In the latter embodiment, the attachment of the mask to the helmet is by means of a plurality of headed members received within recessed pockets. The pockets may be formed either in the base portion of the mask or in the peripheral element of the helmet. In all cases, the mask is received by the helmet in a snap frictional engagement such that the mask may be completely removed therefrom, i.e., broken away when strenuously grasped by an opponent during athletic play so as to reduce the likelihood of twist-type injury to the neck or head of the wearer. The Lancellotti reference functions primarily when force is applied in a forwardly direction in that the attachments of the mask to the helmet are confining in a lateral direction so that quick release might be difficult or impossible if a pull were made in a sideways direction, the direction which can cause in some cases the worst type of twisting injury to the neck and spine.
Other guards designed to release from a football helmet, primarily in a uni-directional, forwardly direction, include U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,537, issued to Burton R. Bowles, et al, entitled "Protective Helmet With Releasable Face Guard Apparatus," and the Correale U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,140, entitled "Football Helmet Face Guard." The Butash U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,737, entitled "Football Helmet Face Mask," attempts to solve the problem of injury to the player by making it difficult for the player to grab an opposing player's face mask by forming a wire frame for the face mask covered with a series of beads that are strung along certain wires to make it difficult for an opposing player to grab the face mask. However, if a player does in fact grab the Butash face mask, injury could result as a quick release multi-directional release is not provided therein.
The present invention solves these prior art problems and shortcomings by providing an improved football or like contact sports helmet and face mask apparatus having the quick release feature even when the player's face mask is pulled from a sideways direction. This apparatus would help prevent suffering of severe brain damage or neck injury including paralysis or death. Thus, the present invention provides a multi-directional quick release face mask which provides quick release between the face mask and the helmet when high stress is transmitted thereto yet a structural connection is formed between the face mask and helmet during normal play. The apparatus has utility for football helmets and may be used for other types of helmets.
A feature of the present invention is the ability to easily load the connection between the mask and the helmet with a predetermined release value so that a higher value could be used for more experienced, better conditioned players, such as college and professional athletes, while a lower release load value could be used for less experienced, younger players such as high school, junior high and elementary ages.
The present invention provides a face mask having a three-point attachment with three attachment portions including left and right side attachments, each adapted for placement at the left and right temple areas of the helmet and a central upper attachment generally between the left and right side attachments and adapted for attachment to the center forehead area of the helmet. A plurality of preferably cylindrical posts are positioned on each side of the helmet in the temple area preferably arranged in pairs, each cylindrical post having a central axis generally perpendicular to the helmet's outer surface and including a first pair of closely spaced posts placed on the left side of the helmet and a corresponding pair of closely spaced posts on the right side of the helmet. A grooved area is formed on each post defining a narrowed diameter section of each post generally between the end portions leaving an enlarged outer end portion of each post that functions with the groove as a retainer to hold the face mask to the helmet. Brackets are provided on the left and right rear ends of the face mask for forming a quick release connection of the face mask to the helmet at the posts. The bracket and post connection allows removal of the mask from the posts responsive to the application of force to the mask, as during contact sports, from one or more directions including at least force which moves the mask end portion away from the post in a lateral direction, away from the helmet, and generally along the central axis of the post. Quick release also occurs when force is applied in a direction which moves the mask in a direction away from the post in a direction along the helmet and at generally angles with respect to the post.
Thus, the present invention provides a quick release face mask apparatus which will readily release the mask from the helmet no matter in what direction force is applied to the mask by an opposing player's hand. The mask can be a wire grid-like mask covered with plastic, for example, or entirely plastic while the posts can be of a resilient material such as hard rubber or plastic. One skilled in the art will recognize that a desired load value for release can be provided by adjusting the durometer of the particular rubber or plastic used, or by changing the groove configuration so that greater or lesser confinement of the mask by the groove is achieved.